Offers Rolling In

Well here come the college officers... To date my son got an offer from one state university with an offer into the honors program and a 32k merit scholarship. This is a good but we still wait on NROTC. We also found out that he is getting a letter from another state school as well as our own state with maybe the same type of offer. So the "A" plan is still on hold but the B, C & D plan are moving along, we will have to see what the other 9 schools do. That would be the E to K plan. Expensive but I guess worth it!

Congrats and kudos to you and your son, Blacklab! It is a stressful process but things work out. You will observe also that what started out as plan A becomes plan k because things will happen that makes plan k more attractive than the original plan A. You will need a beer (maybe a double shot of Tequilla) by the time it's all over.

Well here come the college officers... To date my son got an offer from one state university with an offer into the honors program and a 32k merit scholarship. This is a good but we still wait on NROTC. We also found out that he is getting a letter from another state school as well as our own state with maybe the same type of offer. So the "A" plan is still on hold but the B, C & D plan are moving along, we will have to see what the other 9 schools do. That would be the E to K plan. Expensive but I guess worth it!

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One thing to keep in mind is that you can have both an ROTC scholarship and a merit scholarship, both are independent so accept both if available if for the same school. Not sure how it all works out, but I've read in some threads on this forum that even if the merit scholarship if for tuition only, utlimately a surplus in DS's or DD's school account ends up as a reimbursement to the student. Hey, what a great way to build a savings account during college, or maybe paying DD/DM a bit back for footing R&B! I get to find out for DS's soph year, since he's a 3Y AD and has a tuition only MS.

utlimately a surplus in DS's or DD's school account ends up as a reimbursement to the student. Hey, what a great way to build a savings account during college,

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I could be wrong, but I highly doubt that this would be the case. In every case I looked into, merit scholarship is to be used only against school billable services.

For instance, if there were multiple scholarships including outside one that created a total pool that is larger than the cost of attendance, the school simply reduces theirs so that the student comes out at best full ride (all expense covered), not SAVING money for the future. Most external scholarships come with a stipulation that they are used against school billable services (tuition, room, board, etc).

Case in point: when my S1 (not the ROTC kid - S2) won a national competition sponsored by a wall street firm in his high school year that came with a very substantial scholarship he can take to any college he chooses to attend, that was paid directly to the university, he chose to attend in the fall, not given away as a cash prize for him to use for whatever purpose he chooses. Ditto about the national merit finalist scholarship S1 got too: it went straight to the school. My S1's friend had one too, and he also got the full tuition merit scholarship from the school, and when the national merit scholarship was offered, the school simply reduced theirs. No extra pocket money for him! It's rare to have an out right cash giveaway as a scholarship. My S1 had a couple of those too, but they were very small amounts (less than $1000).

I may be wrong about multiple scholarship issues, so you need to check with the school that is offering the scholarship and how they handle external scholarship on top of their own merit scholarship.

If you have a the luxury of multiple scholarships, then you need to think about pros and cons of which one to stick to. Suppose you turn down the ROTC scholarship since you have the school provided merit scholarship. Obviously, there are advantages to this scenario. And, visa versa.

Here is one thing my S2 shared with me. Note: he is an Army ROTC kid. So, I don't know how much it applies to NROTC.

He is a full 4 year scholarship cadet at a very expensive private school. The monetary value in and of itself was amazing since the school also provided free room and board. But the value of the ROTC scholarship is beyond just money alone.

What he found out as additional benefit is that he was able to contract immediately: non scholarship students do not contract until the third year (I believe). The benefit of contracting right away is, he is able to apply to all sorts of programs right away. Without the "contracted" status, he can't. For instance, he applied to the CULP program (summer program overseas) for next summer. He may or may not be selected. But without the contracted status, he can't even apply. The summer after that, he plans to apply for other programs like airborne or air assault training program. Again, without the contracted status, you can't apply to those.

On a very minor note, since he passed PFT right away as soon as he arrived at his school, he was contracted immediately. As a result, he was immediately issued all the gears, uniforms, etc. Non contracted students (no scholarship) had to wait a couple of months for that. Just a minor issue, but he was tickled pink to have all this right from the beginning.

I believe the scholarship is more than money. For a very motivated cadet, it allows him/her to stand out from the beginning and take advantage of all that they program has to offer.

My son is receiving a substantial reimbursement (5 figures) from the school each year due to his scholarships exceeding the cost of attendance. He is putting the reimbursement in savings and using his stipend/book money for expenses.
Perhaps the difference is that none of his scholarships were awarded by the school itself?

My son is receiving a substantial reimbursement (5 figures) from the school each year due to his scholarships exceeding the cost of attendance. He is putting the reimbursement in savings and using his stipend/book money for expenses.
Perhaps the difference is that none of his scholarships were awarded by the school itself?

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If all funds come from sources that are not federal, state or school related then it is possible to have a refund such as you speak, but otherwise the cost of attendance exists for the very purpose of governing the monies you can have from all sources. In most cases the reimbursement in one school year would probably not exceed about 3K and that is to be used for educational expenses. If living off campus the reimbursement would be significantly higher with the assumption that the money is applied towards off campus room and board expenses.

Wow... I did not expect such excellent information, I guess I was just looking at this entire thing in a half full vision.

Patentesq - "a beer (maybe a double shot of Tequilla)"Nice!! I was thinking more of letting my head bounce off the jersey barriers on the side of I-95 as I was driving 100MPH. After reviewing and going through the NROTC, 11 college apps, CSS Profile, FSATA (whatever), essays, campus visits, and on going other scholarships and the bla..bla...bla stuff I may have forgot, it would have been less painful. This is one crazy process...but all worth a childs educationgroupwave:

Congrats and kudos to you and your son, Blacklab! It is a stressful process but things work out. You will observe also that what started out as plan A becomes plan k because things will happen that makes plan k more attractive than the original plan A. You will need a beer (maybe a double shot of Tequilla) by the time it's all over.

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Amen on the double shots. Parsing this process with my DS last year was one of the most stressful things I have experienced in ages. Good luck!!

Younger DS had similar multiple offers, including full ride merits (plan C). It's exciting and stressful to watch them go through the decision making process, but somehow they sift through their opportunities and come to a decision.

My advice is to keep the merit scholarships at 1 university until the bitter end. you dont know how dodmerb will pan out and alot can happen between now and next fall.

Older DS is going to commission in May and my drinking is on an as needed basis, considerably less than 4 years ago. (And he had extra ROTC and University monies which was deposited into his bank account each semester after tuition and R/B was paid for. )

I agree with everyone else about the extra money being kept. As I always state the devil is in the details. At our DS's school the merit money was "up to" X amount and used concurrently with his ROTC scholarship. In other words, if even 51 cents was left over, the school kept the 51 cents.

FAFSA loans are different, and from our DD's experience the school will reimburse any money. We immediately took that money and paid down the loan because the way it works is that amount would accrue interest until she graduated, and even at a low interest rate it was not in our opinion to go deeper in debt to have it being used to buy pizza or go to the movies. Theory of spending money because it is in your account can hurt.

Best to talk to the Bursar at each college to determine how they will address this issue.

In every case I looked into, merit scholarship is to be used only against school billable services.

For instance, if there were multiple scholarships including outside one that created a total pool that is larger than the cost of attendance

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well, that't the key -- "cost of attendance" which includes personal items, transportation to/from school, etc. I have seen that when the cadet pays first (from whatever source... parents, Student Loan), when ROTC later pays the school, any amount in excess, up to the Cost of Attendance, results in a surplus in the student's account that can be transferred out to a bank.

My son's situation is probably a little different, as he was awarded a 4-yr scholarship after he arrived at campus- he signed his scholarship papers at the beginning of October, but they did make it retroactive back to the beginning of the semester and paid for this fall as well.

My son received about $4,700 in refunds from the school for the 1st semester. We were actually (pleasantly) surprised and called the bursar's office. They said they reimburse any amount over and above the cost of tuition, room/board and mandatory fees with no cap.

As of right now, his plan is to bank the reimbursements with the hopes of having a nice nest egg upon graduation. Also, should perks like the school-awarded R&B go away, he'll be able to cover the cost with his savings.

So, to make a long story short (I know, too late!) - accept all the scholarships possible, and double check your schools' reimbursement policy. It could turn out pretty well for you.

My son's situation is probably a little different, as he was awarded a 4-yr scholarship after he arrived at campus- he signed his scholarship papers at the beginning of October, but they did make it retroactive back to the beginning of the semester and paid for this fall as well.

My son received about $4,700 in refunds from the school for the 1st semester. We were actually (pleasantly) surprised and called the bursar's office. They said they reimburse any amount over and above the cost of tuition, room/board and mandatory fees with no cap.

As of right now, his plan is to bank the reimbursements with the hopes of having a nice nest egg upon graduation. Also, should perks like the school-awarded R&B go away, he'll be able to cover the cost with his savings.

So, to make a long story short (I know, too late!) - accept all the scholarships possible, and double check your schools' reimbursement policy. It could turn out pretty well for you.

IS for us runs @ 20K on a good day. Tuition alone is close to 12K. Room is the cheapest, food has every which way plan from Sunday. They only guarantee housing for freshman, and now that they are a soph. forced to live off campus we pay about 5K a yr in rent, and another 3K for food and utilities. That is before books.

Add in computer, micro, linens and sundries to move them in as freshman and we were out another 3K.

DD is IS, non-ROTC, but at an SMC.

DS otoh is ROTC scholarship at a college with merit that also does not guarantee housing after freshman yr.

His rent is 650 a month and the lease is 12 mos. The house is vacant for 3 mos of the yr. (May-Sept) He will be commissioned in May and unless he can find someone to sublet, we will be on the hook for 3 months = @2K.

Finally, I would say to any and every parent even tuition rates rise. DS entered in 08 and it was 28K for OOS, it is now over 41K. His merit and ROTC did not change through those yrs.

DD, not ROTC entered LY with Tuition for IS at @9K it is close to 12 K,

Look at the colleges and see what they have done historically for the past few yrs regarding tuition.

My son's situation is probably a little different, as he was awarded a 4-yr scholarship after he arrived at campus- he signed his scholarship papers at the beginning of October, but they did make it retroactive back to the beginning of the semester and paid for this fall as well.

My son received about $4,700 in refunds from the school for the 1st semester. We were actually (pleasantly) surprised and called the bursar's office. They said they reimburse any amount over and above the cost of tuition, room/board and mandatory fees with no cap.

As of right now, his plan is to bank the reimbursements with the hopes of having a nice nest egg upon graduation. Also, should perks like the school-awarded R&B go away, he'll be able to cover the cost with his savings.

So, to make a long story short (I know, too late!) - accept all the scholarships possible, and double check your schools' reimbursement policy. It could turn out pretty well for you.

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There are very few schools that will "pay" you to attend, most will have policies that will prevent this from happening but I totally agree you should always check the school policy.

When my older son started school in 2008 he had received a scholarship from the school that brought tuition down to what in state would have cost. The first semester account sheet showed the scholarship and then what the Army paid which was the difference. After the first semester I think the school caught on to the fact that the Army would pay the entire out of state tuition. We received a letter stating that the school scholarship was being cancelled. The next accounting statement now showed the entire out of state tuition paid by the Army. My son never received any money from the school even though the scholarships were overlapping, we had never expected any. Funny how different schools operate. Good idea keeping that extra money in the bank for awhile in case they come knocking on the door down the road.

I would think many IS schools because of budget cuts due to states being belly up will pay attention to this situation. VA has a deficit currently, and every IS college will receive state funds for their school. Some are dictated on how they must utilize these funds via their regulations.

For example Jcleppe's DS. Why pay any money out of their budget if the Army is willing to pick up the entire tab? It would be fiscally irresponsible of the school to use their money.

I am curious on how this will impact him for tax purposes. Will it be seen as income?